Chris Stapleton Wins Male Vocalist of the Year at 2017 CMA Awards

Stapleton's 2017 CMA Awards experience went a lot like his 2015 CMA Awards, winning Album of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year awards at both events. Stapleton, who also performed "Broken Halos" to a standing ovation with his wife, Morgane, earlier in the show, won Male Vocalist over some tough competition including Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Thomas Rhett and Keith Urban.

Stapleton and Rhett were the only artists nominated to have released albums in 2017 (Stapleton, From A Room: Volume 1 and Rhett, Life Changes), while Urban released Ripcord and Bentley released Black in 2016. Church released his most recent studio album, Mr. Misunderstood, in 2015.

The only award Stapleton was nominated for and didn't win at the 2017 CMAs was Entertainer of the Year, which went home with country legend Garth Brooks.

The two 2017 CMA Awards are major accomplishments for Stapleton, who hasn't slowed since his breakout year in 2015. The 2015 CMA Awards were magical for Stapleton, who performed "Tennessee Whiskey" and "Drink You Away' with pop icon Justin Timberlake, creating one of the most memorable moments in CMA history.

That same night, Stapleton won awards for New Artist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year. One week after the CMAs, Stapleton's album Traveller, which was released six months prior to the show, rose to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Traveller sold more than 50,000 copies that week and put Stapleton on the country music map as an artist.